Disclaimer: Still not mine, unfortunately.

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*This and the following chapters are titled 'Salvage' and continue the story of 'A Broken Heart' and 'Fallout'

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Chapter 36: Salvage, part 6. Time

Twenty-five minutes it had taken them… Three minutes to regroup and check that himself, Alan and the local rescue unit who were at their location were all fine after the aftershock had settled. Four minutes to race to Virgil's and Gordon's location after receiving a call from John that the entrance his brothers had been using to get the victims out had collapsed. Another ninety seconds at the location to gather the known facts: The family had thankfully been removed, however both Gordon and Virgil had been inside retrieving equipment, and worst of all they could not make contact due to their communicators being damaged – That's if they were alive to even think about making contact. It had taken him an additional ninety seconds to formulate a plan and communicate it to both Alan and John. Then a further five minutes for the first steps of that plan to be put in motion: Which included him sending mini moles down to the buried cabin in order to find the exact location of his two brothers and to his utter relief their heat signatures, while John remote accessed the Snow Queen which had also been buried and retrieve it back to the surface, while Alan fetched the other Snow Queen that they had been using earlier. Then thirty seconds for him to jump in the one, Alan to climb into the other, followed by another half a minute to get the machines into position and ready to go. Traveling down to the location added a further five minutes to the clock, plus another three minutes thirty seconds to cut through the ice and wood that was blocking the entrance to the area of the cabin they had been trapped in, and another thirty seconds before he heard the sweet sound of his two younger brothers chatting away and for him to answer them.

Now here Scott was, twenty-five minutes later, feeling like he'd aged several years from intense worry, but extremely relieved to see that both brothers were alive and currently talking. However, due to the large beam pinning Virgil on top of Gordon they were still trapped, and from a quick assessment on the pair they both had injuries. Gordon with bruised ribs, his leg was was also hurting but he had maintained that it wasn't broken, so hopefully just bruised, and then there was his back which he had also claimed was perfectly fine. However, this was Gordon and when it came to his back precautions, even if he thought they were way over the top, would always be taken. Then there was Virgil, a lot worse off than his younger brother due to the beam currently resting on his back, his left arm being broken, plus that damn crack in his helmet which had caused a concussion, and stopped him being protected from the freezing cold. Consequently, there were now obvious indications he was also suffering from hypothermia. He and Alan needed to get them out, and quickly. Unfortunately a fast-paced rescue wasn't on the cards due to the positioning of the beam stopping him from being able to easily free his brothers or administer the necessary first-aid, so moving the large beam would be the first priority. However, a quick assessment on that other beam, currently the only thing that was keeping the ceiling of the cabin in place, and the ice from cascading on top off them, revealed that it was close to snapping, which meant that would instead have to be dealt with first.

With a scowl at the situation, but not wanting to waste any more time, Scott called over his shoulder to Alan who immediately crawled up next to him. "We're going to need to secure this beam before attempting to move this other one."

"FAB," Alan answered, glancing at the beam, "I'll head back and grab the equipment."

"Thanks," Scott replied watching his youngest brother crawl towards the two Snow Queens which were now side-by-side, before looking back at his two pinned brothers, "we're just going to secure the room and the we'll get you out of here, okay?"

"Yes," Gordon responded with a concerned glance at Virgil's dazed stare, "but please, don't worry about me, as soon as you move that beam get Virgil out of here, he's in a bad way."

"I'll worry about both of you," Scott informed him," and we'll be getting you both out of here, okay?"

"But Virgil…" Gordon insisted, indicating his brothers closing eyes.

"Virg," Scott gently encouraged, "please open your eyes for me."

"Mm…" Virgil groggily mumbled, his eyes remaining closed.

"Come on sleepyhead, it's not bedtime yet!"

Virgil's one eye opened, followed slowly by the other. "S…Scotty?"

"Yes, it's me."

"F…Feel w…woozy and cold."

"I know, and as soon as possible, I am going to do everything I can to make you feel better."

"C…Can I s…sleep?"

"No, I need you to stay awake for a little bit longer, okay?"

"W…Why?"

"Because I want to continue our chat," Gordon interjected.

"Mm… But s…sleepy!"

"Hey, do you want me to start calling you Virgie again?"

"Not V…Virgie!"

"Well, stay awake, and I might stop calling it you."

"A…Annoying…" Virgil muttered with a shiver.

"Yep… It's my middle name!"

With a quick smile at the banter that was now developing between his two trapped brothers, Scott crawled over to Alan and both of them set to work.

… …

Scott heaved out a heavy sigh, this was taking far too long. Yes, the ceiling had been secured, but it had taken them four minutes to do it. Four minutes in which Gordon, who was still desperately talking away to Virgil in the hopes of keeping him alert, had begun to lower his 'I'm fine' mask and replace it with signs of exhaustion and pain, and then there was Virgil whose speech had grown more slurred, and the conversation he was managing had become repetitive, all of it featuring his regrets for coming in-between Gordon and Penelope. This wasn't good, and he desperately wanted to turn his attentions to his two brothers, but he and Alan still needed to move the beam that was lying on top of them. Unfortunately it was too heavy to lift manually. Luckily, they had equipment with them which would easily move it. Unfortunately, due to the extra cramped conditions they were now in, there was nowhere to safely place the beam if it was in one solid mass. So, instead of using equipment that would usually take around two minutes, they would have to switch to using some cutting guns to break the beam into two parts and then attempt to move them by hand, but this of course would take time, time he didn't know if his brothers had. Scott released another frustrated sigh at the situation, all he could do was to keep going with the rescue. Thankfully, Alan was now back by his side, an encouraging smile on his face. Seriously, the kid had been fantastic, and he would definitely be treating him to a beer when they returned home. If it had not been for the youngest then he would definitely not have kept a straight head, and the time it had already taken to get to this point in the rescue would have been a hell of a lot longer.

"Here," Alan said, handing him one of the cutting devices, "are you ready?"

"FAB!" Scott responded, 'Yep, definitely a beer, or maybe three later!'

… …

Okay, so with exceptional teamwork cutting the wood and moving it had only taken another three minutes in total, his two brothers were now free, and ready for them to actually begin the process of getting them out of there. Not that it would be that easy with Gordon's current loud protestations.

"I don't need that," Gordon moaned when Alan went to fix a collar on him, "or that stretcher!"

"Gordon." Scott chastised, his eyes remaining on Virgil who he was currently tending to, "please."

"Scott," Gordon almost sobbed "please…"

"Gords, I know there are valid reasons why you hate them, but we really need to take the precautions."

"But, I…"

"Please Gordon." Alan begged, his eyes widening.

"Damn you and that pleading look," Gordon huffed, allowing him to attach the collar.

"Learnt it from the best," Alan replied with a wicked grin.

"Yeah, me," Gordon retorted with a returning smirk, but with concerned eyes glancing towards Scott who was currently securing a splint to Virgil's broken arm, "how's he doing?"

"He'll be okay," Scott answered, "won't you Virgil?"

"Okay," Virgil stuttered back, "just fix it."

"Fix what?" Scott questioned.

"He's referring to me and Penny again," Gordon sadly informed him.

"F…Fault… F…Fix… M…Mine…"

"It wasn't your fault," Gordon insisted, "and you don't need to fix anything."

"F…Fix," Virgil sprawled out again, "T…"

"What?" Scott gently queried, leaning in closer to Virgil when his voice trailed off.

Virgil slowly whispered into Scott's ear.

"You know," Scott said with a smile at Virgil when he had finished speaking, "considering how out of it you are, that's actually not a bad idea."

"What's a good idea?" Gordon inquired.

"You'll find out," Scott answered, before taking a hold of the stretcher and addressing his youngest brother, "are you ready Alan?"

"Yes."

"Good. You take Gordon up in the one Snow Queen, and I'll have Virgil with me in the other."

"FAB!"

"Seriously," Gordon complained, when Alan began to move him, "what did Virg say?"

"No idea bro, but I'm sure you'll find out later."

"If Scott tells you, will you tell me?"

"Depends."

"On what?"

"If he wants me to tell you."

"Allie," Gordon wined.

"Gordo…"

"It's not Gordo!"

"And mine's not Allie," he retaliated, placing his brother into the Snow Queen and taking his seat.

"Hate you!"

"Nope," Alan responded firing up the controls and beginning the ascent back to the surface, "you don't!"

… …

"Come in Thunderbird Five."

"This is Thunderbird Five," John immediately responded, "it's good to hear from you, how's it going?"

"Gordon is with Alan, and I've got Virg," Scott replied, his eyes focussed on the Snow Queens climb back to the surface, the two invisible ones that he had developed in the back of his head when he first became a big brother resting on Virgil.

"Dad will be glad to hear that, he's been going out of his mind, and I dread to think how many coffees he's consumed."

"Well tell him to relax. Alan will be flying them back home soon."

"And what about you?"

Scott released a heavy sigh, knowing that when they had headed down to rescue their brothers not everyone who had been reported missing had been located. "How have the search and rescue team been getting on without us?"

"Due to the weather worsening most of them have called it a day, but the ones who've remained have found a few more."

"Condition?"

"One who was caught in the last aftershock was found alive, the other four got caught in one of the earlier aftershocks, and they had unfortunately died."

"How many more are missing?"

"Twelve more unaccounted for."

"And the ones who are still missing, were they reported in the initial Avalanche, or in one of the later aftershocks?"

A short exhale sounded over Scott's communicator, followed by John's answer. "All twelve were listed as MIA in the first avalanche."

"Oh."

"Yes, I know."

"How long ago was that?" Scott queried, realising that since removing his two brothers from the buried cabin that he had lost complete track of the time.

"We are approaching the twenty-four-hour mark."

"Damn!" Scott muttered, knowing what he had to say. He really hated this part of the job, especially when lives remained unaccounted for, and an avalanche was always that much harder. However, his father had given him this position because he could make the hard calls, and with Alan needing to take his brothers home he was now the last one standing. He couldn't do much more on his own, even if he desperately wanted to stay and help. "Okay," he continued with another sigh, "I'm calling it… We're all heading home."

"FAB! Safe journey home brother."

"Thanks… Oh John," Scott added, allowing the Snow Queen to break the surface and then settle next to her sister.

"Yes?"

"I've got a request for you from Virgil."

"A request?"

"Yes," Scott said with a grin, "and if all goes to plan it should fix a few things."

"Okay," John replied, curiosity in his voice, "what is it?"

"I need you to make a phone call!"

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TBC